Tour de Romandie 2013, April 23-28 **Spoiler Tags Required**

dastardly00

This year's route involves: an uphill prologue (Cat. 3 climb); three medium mountain stages that will probably end in break-away wins rather than sprint finishes; one absolutely massive Queen stage (including two ascents of the Col de la Croix); and a flat Time Trial to finish. Official website here.

Bradley Wiggins dominated this race in 2012, but is not defending his title this year. Chris Froome will wear the no. 1 jersey, and along with team mate Richie Porte, Sky will be expecting to take the top step of the podium again.

There are some other top quality riders taking part. Full start list here. Andrew Talansky is team leader for Garmin Sharp. He was second here last year, only 12 seconds behind Wiggins. Ryder Hesjedal is taking part as well. But with the Giro starting in less than a couple of weeks, I can't seem him going full gas in this race. He'll probably concentrate his efforts on the two time trials.
Roman Kreuziger won this race in 2009 and he's in good form at the moment so he should be there or there abouts. Katusha have Simon Spilak who has had a very impressive 2013 so far, with a win in the GP Miguel Indurain, 4th place in the Vuelta a Andalucía and the Tour of the Basque Country, and 6th overall in Paris–Nice. Movistar have Alejandro Valverde, but he must pretty tired after the Spring Classics. More likely to challenge is his team mate Rui Costa. The rapidly improving AG2R team have JC Peraud and Carlos Bentacur. With two time trials in this race, Tony Martin (OPQS) mightn't be too far away from the top-5 positions.
Lieuwe Westra (Vancansoleil), Pierre Rolland (Europcar), Brajkovic (Astana), Cunego (Lampre), Igor Anton (Euskaltel), and Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Lotto) are all taking part. Cav is here too, but I'll be surprised if he wins any stages.

Sky Sports (yes, Sky Sports) will have 90 minutes of live TV coverage for all the stages.

dastardly00

Prologue: Le Châble - Bruson (ITT) 7.45km

Not your average prologue, with over 300m of vertical gain in just under 7.5km. Is this a bit too uphill for Tony Martin? It's not ideal for him, but I can't see too many other riders being stronger. Except maybe Chris Froome.

Start times here.

Last 5 starters (CET time):
5. Tony Martin 17:05
4. Alejandro Valverde 17:05
3. Robert Kiserlovski 17:06
2. Daniel Moreno 17:07
1. Chris Froome 17:08



Live TV coverage on Sky Sports 2, 3-4.30pm. And repeated tonight on Sky Sports 4, 9-10.30pm.
I haven't found any links to English tickers yet.

Flandria

Good work, Agent Dastardly...

Even though the last two editions of this have produced the winner of the Le Tour, and given that the parcours can draw on both the Jura and Alps, sadly in recent years this race has failed to excite. Wiggins and Sky dominated last year’s edition to the extent that the organisers have at least included two spins of the Col de la Croix on Saturday’s queen stage, but with all those mountains available there still isn’t one summit finish – every stage finishes past the last peak.
Today’s TT could be interesting though. Technically a prologue as it is shy of 8k, it climbs over 300m rated at Cat 3 and will have as much impact as a longer ITT. It should prove difficult enough for the likes of Martin and Phinney to pull out a lead so look to Porte or Froome to show the form that saw them hammer the TTs at Col d’Eze or Vecchio. I expected Sky to dominate these week long races this year but luckily it hasn’t quite worked out that way, Froome was overgeared and underdressed at Tirreno-Adriatico, Sky let Dan go too far up the road at Catalunya, and Nibali and Campagnolo got the better of Wiggins and DI2 in Trentino. But unless the other teams grab this race by the scruff of the neck I fear tempo and powermeters will win the day and the week...


In case you hadn't guessed I expect meh, lots and lots of meh;)

dastardly00

Flandria wrote: »

..... Nibali and Campagnolo got the better of Wiggins and DI2 in Trentino....

Haha very good!

unichall

I think todays prolouge will be okay for Martin, its not that steep and he showed in the Tour of the Basque Country that a hilly time trial isnt a problem for him. It is more a course for power riders than climbers and I doubt many pack more power than Martin. He was as high as 6/1 for the stage and Frome was 6/4, I dont know about anyone else but 6/1 for the world champion is massive

Flandria

Yaaaawn... race over

dastardly00

Yeah I can see Froome keeping the jersey until the end. He absolutely flew up the climb and looked ok at the finish. Talansky looked shattered after his TT. I think the riders found the stage a lot harder than they thought it would be.... except for Froome!

Rastadoyle

the only positive thing about this race is its on sky sports and we dont have to listen to carlton kirby

RobFowl

Froome is really impressive this year. Genuinely surprised at him since coming from nowhere to finish second in th e 2011 Vuelta. Never rated him at all up to that.

MPFG

RobFowl wrote: »

Froome is really impressive this year. Genuinely surprised at him since coming from nowhere to finish second in th e 2011 Vuelta. Never rated him at all up to that.

He did kinda came out of nowhere ...one minute he is 84th in Tour de France then next he is the best in the world...

TheBlaaMan

That will be the case of 'marginal gains' then.......

Flandria

Unofficially rumoured the Sky lineup at Il Giro will be Wiggins, Henao, Uran, Sivtsov, Knees, Kennaugh, Pate, Cataldo, Puccio. Surprising to see both Henao and Uran in there as I thought one or both would be required for the more mountainous TDF, although I'm sure one of them could ride both. Leaves Froome with Kiryienka, Porte, Tiernan-Locke, Lopez ('find' of the season?), Knees, and a couple of others - maybe even Wiggins in the Rogers role.

So what happens when Wiggins doesn't win the Giro? Will he rollover and not defend his TDF title? There could be tears before bedtime...

unichall

Flandria wrote: »

Unofficially rumoured the Sky lineup at Il Giro will be Wiggins, Henao, Uran, Sivtsov, Knees, Kennaugh, Pate, Cataldo, Puccio. Surprising to see both Henao and Uran in there as I thought one or both would be required for the more mountainous TDF, although I'm sure one of them could ride both. Leaves Froome with Kiryienka, Porte, Tiernan-Locke, Lopez ('find' of the season?), Knees, and a couple of others - maybe even Wiggins in the Rogers role.

So what happens when Wiggins doesn't win the Giro? Will he rollover and not defend his TDF title? There could be tears before bedtime...

Do you not think wiggo will win the Giro, I think bar a crash or major mechanical at a crucial point he is a shoe in. He can live with them all in the mountains and nobody can match his time trial pace

MrCreosote

MPFG wrote: »

He did kinda came out of nowhere ...one minute he is 84th in Tour de France then next he is the best in the world...

Supposedly it was untreated bilharzia. (If it wasn't, then this could be filed under the "awesome excuses" along with Tyler's vanishing twin)

Darkglasses

MrCreosote wrote: »

Supposedly it was untreated bilharzia. (If it wasn't, then this could be filed under the "awesome excuses" along with Tyler's vanishing twin)

Not being team leader also may have had some effect.

TheBlaaMan

unichall wrote: »

Do you not think wiggo will win the Giro, I think bar a crash or major mechanical at a crucial point he is a shoe in. He can live with them all in the mountains and nobody can match his time trial pace

He certainly did seem on form in Trentino before his mechanical mishap. Can he sustain it for a three week tour with multiple tough mountain stages though, and rely on the 55km ITT to put distance into his opponents? (hopefully not, I'd hate to see the Giro won on the drudgery of the Sky-bots )

dastardly00

This year's Giro, like last year's TDF, is ideally suited to Wiggo, with 88 km of TTs. Who will be able to challenge him? Nibali has a super strong team and can match him in the mountains. But he won't beat Wiggo in the TTs. I don't think Hesjedal can beat him. Someone like Bentacur for AGR2 might upset the Sky apple cart by launching a good few attacks in the mountains but Wiggins will always have the safety net of the TTs.

Flandria

Wiggins is going to have to work alot harder for this Giro than he did at the TDF. The corsa should be ideal for him, and Acquarone is on record as saying that this Giro is designed with Wiggins in mind but it will be harder than some might think.

1. There is 75.4 kms of ITT and a 17.4 km ITT which should suit down to the ground, and may well be the winning of the race but they may not prove to be completely decisive. Team Time Trials are notorious and I don't think Wiggins is quite as comfortable as Martin or Cancellara at pulling the squad around, he is better in an ITT and Porte might be missed for that job. Besides, TTT's always offer 8 more chances of the team messing up, sometimes with serious consequences. The distance isn't long enough for Sky to take any huge chunks from any of the main contenders, and Garmin and Astana should be close enough to Sky anyway.

2. The 55k TT is made for him, and that is where he should take time from everyone but the 20k TT is a hilly affair full of short punchy stuff that is stiffer than the average gradients suggest and may be as well suited to Nibali and others.

3. Bonifications. The TDF was laid out for Wiggins as he just had to roll in, but the Giro has confirmed bonuses of 20, 12, and 8 seconds for individual stages AND two intermediate sprints with 5, 3, and 1 second. Sky will have to work very hard to contain those bonuses, and they can make a big difference - just look at Rodriguez in last year's Giro and Vuelta and the time he pulled out with consistent finishing. Even though it's light on climbing this Giro will have still have lots of short, steep punchy stuff and that's not Bradley's cup of tea.

4. There was very little time won and lost between the main principals in the mountains at last years Tour but the Giro climbs in the final week are different, and Gavia, Stelvio, Passo Giau and Tre Cime di Lavaredo in May are very different to power climbing the Alps in July.

It may not be as clear cut as it looks and I can't help but feel the dynamic isn't 100% in the team. If Wiggins were to win the Giro does anyone think Sky wouldn't shaft Froome and encourage Wiggins to do the double?

I would back him with your money though...;)

dastardly00

Stage 1: St-Maurice - Renens 176.4km

Although the summit of the final climb is about 40km from the finish, I'll be surprised if Omega-Pharma-Quickstep manage to set this up for a sprint finish for Cav. His team mate Meersman might have a better chance of winning this stage. Matt Goss took it very handy in the TT yesterday and he could be able stay with the main bunch over the last climb. Today could also be ideal for Michael Albasini.
It seems that either a OPQS or Orica-GreenEdge rider will win today :P



GC after Prologue:
1. Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling 13:15.59
2. Andrew Talansky (USA) Garmin-Sharp @6.26"
3. Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) RadioShack Leopard @13.02"
4. Richie Porte (Aus) Sky Procycling @15.29"
5. Rui Costa (Por) Movistar Team @16.23"

Live TV coverage on Sky Sports 2, 3-4.30pm. And repeated tonight on Sky Sports 4, 9-10.30pm.

Flandria

I must switch my mind off more often to stop Froome and Kerrison reading it...:D

“I’m 100 per cent the leader, that hasn’t changed since January,” Froome told Sky Sports. Asked whether that was also Wiggins’ reading of the hierarchy, Froome said: “You’re going to have to ask him, but from what I understand everyone’s bought into that plan and that’s how we’re going to go into the Tour.”

“We’re going into the race with the rider who we believe has the best chance of delivering as the designated leader,” Kerrison said. “For the moment, we’re preparing Bradley to ride the Giro and to perform at the Giro, and Chris Froome to be the leader at the Tour de France. As we get closer to the event we’ll look at the form of all of our riders and make sure we have the strongest team to win the race.”

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/froome-im-100-percent-the-leader-for-the-tour-de-france

dastardly00

^^^^
The interesting thing will be what will happen at Sky if Wiggins doesn't win the Giro!

RobFowl

I see Cav's climbing well (Ryan Sherlock can rest easy anyway )

MPFG

dastardly00 wrote: »

^^^^
The interesting thing will be what will happen at Sky if Wiggins doesn't win the Giro!

A coup d'etat ( forgotten how to spell that ..or anything for that matter) with general Brailsford siding with Sir Bradley

Afterall Bradley is global and transcends cycling.....even my mother and grandmother know who is ...not so much Chris Froome

dastardly00

Stage 2: Prilly - Granges 190.3 km

The route profile below exaggerates the difficulty of this stage. It is a rolling stage, but with only a Cat. 2 and 3 climb, I'll be very surprised if this doesn't end in a big bunch sprint. Today is Cav's best chance of winning a stage in the race. If he's dropped before the finish, it could be two in a row for Meersman.



GC after Prologue:
1. Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling 4:42:24
2. Andrew Talansky (USA) Garmin-Sharp @6"
3. Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) RadioShack Leopard @13"
4. Richie Porte (Aus) Sky Procycling @15"
5. Rui Costa (Por) Movistar Team @16"

Live TV coverage on Sky Sports 2, 3-4.30pm. And it's repeated tonight on Sky Sports 4, 10-11.30pm.

bazermc

Whats the story, any reason why this is on Sky Sports and not Eurosport.


I dont have Sky Sports and dont propose signing up for it unless they start to show more and more of the big races and Eurosport dont!
I presume all the grand tours this year are on Eurosport?

Flandria

bazermc wrote: »

Whats the story, any reason why this is on Sky Sports and not Eurosport.


I dont have Sky Sports and dont propose signing up for it unless they start to show more and more of the big races and Eurosport dont!
I presume all the grand tours this year are on Eurosport?

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=84084407

dastardly00

That was about the toughest Cat. 3 climb that I've seen in a long while!

bazermc

Who is the commentator on the Sky Sports coverage, Liggett and Sherwen?

dastardly00

bazermc wrote: »

Who is the commentator on the Sky Sports coverage, Liggett and Sherwen?

Nope, it's Rob Hatch and Brian Smith. Both have been commentating on Eurosport before.

dastardly00

Stage 3: Payerne 181 km

Yesterday's stage turned out to be a lot more exciting than people thought it would be with Froome being attacked from some of the other GC contenders. This resulted in Froome being left a bit isolated with only Porte for help. Today is a bit bumpier so who knows we might see more of the same.
Meersman and Gasparotto are both on form and are favourites for today. Cav or any of the pure sprinters won't be contesting for the win anyway



GC after Stage 2:
1. Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling 4:42:24
2. Andrew Talansky (USA) Garmin-Sharp @6"
3. Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) RadioShack Leopard @13"
4. Richie Porte (Aus) Sky Procycling @15"
5. Rui Costa (Por) Movistar Team @16"

Live TV coverage on Sky Sports 2, 3-4.30pm. And it's repeated tonight on Sky Sports 3, 10.15pm-11.45pm.

Inquitus

Today's closing climbs are alot shorter than yesterdays, hard to see much happening. Either an unthreatening breakaway stays away or Meersman in the sprint!

Flandria

I'm finding it difficult to imagine a duller race. Roll on the 4 Days of Dunkirk...:mad:

Dastardly deserves a medal for keeping this thread alive

Inquitus

Apparently the weather is ****e up on the Col de Croix, so tomorrows stage might get dumbed down!

MPFG

I am at work ...so not watching but ever from the off no one seems interested in this race.....why ???

Flandria

MPFG wrote: »

I am at work ...so not watching but ever from the off no one seems interested in this race.....why ???

Because two TTs kills a week long stage race and the organisers don't often make use of the bigger climbs available. Recent years winners include Wiggins, Evans, Kloden, Hamilton and Dekker - a strong TT will invariably win it, and the race is often over well before the final stage. Sadly, its a very predictable affair...

MPFG

Flandria wrote: »

Because two TTs kills a week long stage race and the organisers don't often make use of the bigger climbs available. Recent years winners include Wiggins, Evans, Kloden, Hamilton and Dekker - a strong TT will invariably win it, and the race is often over well before the final stage. Sadly, its a very predictable affair...

The organisers would want to get their finger out then and change it.....such a waste...I have not seen any of it as been busy but you are right Chris Froome seems to have it sown up on the first day

dastardly00

Flandria wrote: »

Dastardly deserves a medal for keeping this thread alive

I'm doing the Limerick-Galway leg of the Cycle Against Suicide on Saturday so you can do the route profile Flandria

Tomorrow 'might' be interesting.... In the last 2 days the Sky-train has been whittled down to just Froome and Porte after the attacks on the Cat. 3 climbs. So if a team like Movistar turn up the heat we might see some small fireworks. It won't matter too much overall though because I think Froome will beat the other GC contenders in the TT by a country mile.

Flandria

The threats of disruption by weather seem to have receded and the course will race as published - http://www.cyclismactu.fr/news-tour-de-romandie-etape-de-samedi-maintenue-32223.html. So, two ascents of Col de la Croix de Fer should lead to a day of attacking racing at least but probably won't affect the overall outcome too much. Croix de Fer is where Tejay and Evans attacked in the TDF last year but were eventually reeled in by Rogers and Sky, so expect Kiryienka and Porte to control it today. Despite it's dubious HC category it is more of a power climb and shouldn't put any of the contenders in major difficulty, so unless Sky make some more mistakes along the lines of marginally over-gearing or underdressing we might not see too many fireworks. Rolland won the 2012 TDF stage that passed over here so I expect him to show for this along with Pinot and Valverde , but can anyone take enough time to make Froome sweat? Unlikely.

Flandria

So, it seems the route has now been changed because of the weather...

They will pass Col de la Croix de Fer just once and the second scheduled pass is replaced by this finish:





This is the Croix de Fer:



7 km of false flat at the finish won't affect GC...

Flandria

1 - Spilak
2 - Froome s.t.
3 - Costa +1.00

Hats off to Froome who now thoroughly deserves to win but the stupidity and arrogance going on behind with the other contenders who refused to work together was truly epic. Race well and truly over...

Inquitus

Flandria wrote: »

1 - Spilak
2 - Froome s.t.
3 - Costa +1.00

Hats off to Froome who now thoroughly deserves to win but the stupidity and arrogance going on behind with the other contenders who refused to work together was truly epic. Race well and truly over...

Aye they gifted Froome and Spilak a minute

MPFG

I said at the start of this race that Spilak would do well ...I like him alot as a rider...tough !!

Flandria

Let Dastardly have a lie-in after his exertions. So, the formality of the final flat TT around Lake Geneva which will, bar falling off, see Froome retain this race for Sky. The other formality involves the competition to get within half a minute of Martin...

Flandria

Flandria wrote: »

I must switch my mind off more often to stop Froome and Kerrison reading it...:D





http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/froome-im-100-percent-the-leader-for-the-tour-de-france

Bradley and Kerrison launch Operation Shaft Froome...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2013/apr/27/tim-kerrison-bradley-wiggins-team-sky?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487

"I don't think it's that confusing. We both want to win the Tour de France and we're on different paths towards that. We will get to three days out from the race I imagine, in Corsica, and Dave will have to make a decision as to how we do this.
"In an ideal scenario we'll both be in incredible condition, both capable of winning the Tour de France, then it all lies in Dave's hands to say: 'Right, this is what we're going to do. We're going to go with you Chris, or with you Brad, or you know what, for the first week we'll go with both of you and see what happens'. So in an ideal scenario we'd be [going] with both of us for that first week and let the racing take care of itself."

MPFG

I knew this all along...Bradley Wiggins was never going ot give up on the chance of winning the Tour...Whatever some say on here about it being a joke its is still the most prestigious race int he world and who wouldn't want to defend their title...I guess Bradley didn't step up all alomg as he wasn't convinced of his form or maybe his ability...but he is looking fit on channel4 tonight

There will be tears before bedtime and I think they will be Froomes

Only thing is for Froome to ride away and get a lead....maybe in-fighting will open the door for Berite and co


Brailsford will back Bradley. Of that I have no doubt....he is a superstar and a darling of the press in Britian

retalivity

in all honesty, froome still holds all the cards.

He was promised that he could have a run at it this year, and up until now sky looked geared for him. If things change, and wiggins jumps in, i can see him even more fired up to win it. All he need sto do is to still sit at the end of the sky train, and when the group whittles down, ride away with the big guns or take off on his own.
wiggins needs froome a lot more than froome needs wiggins to win this much hillier tour, and if he hasnt got the same protection from a super-domestique like he had last year, then i dont hold much hope for him.

happytramp

retalivity wrote: »

wiggins needs froome a lot more than froome needs wiggins to win this much hillier tour, and if he hasnt got the same protection from a super-domestique like he had last year, then i dont hold much hope for him.

More than any other team, Sky depend on the pace setting of their mountain domestiques. It's an effective technique they use but a fragile one. They are easily upset and any question marks as to who Porte, Henao, Cataldo etc are riding for or indecision from the management could spell disaster for the team. If the team splits the way teams have in the past (Hinault/Lemond, Roche/Vincentini) then personal loyalty could well play a big role. To be honest, this has the potential to be one of the most interesting in aspects of this years race.

Flandria

TBH it was always going to play this way but I don't understand the timing. Kerrison hinted at this last week and for a team so obsessed with marginal gains and 'knowledge gaps' :rolleyes: to go tossing grenades within their own ranks a few days before the Giro seems willfully disruptive. Contador and co. will be relishing July if this is the way Sky are setting themselves up for the Tour.

MPFG

retalivity wrote: »

in all honesty, froome still holds all the cards.

He was promised that he could have a run at it this year, and up until now sky looked geared for him. If things change, and wiggins jumps in, i can see him even more fired up to win it. All he need sto do is to still sit at the end of the sky train, and when the group whittles down, ride away with the big guns or take off on his own.
wiggins needs froome a lot more than froome needs wiggins to win this much hillier tour, and if he hasnt got the same protection from a super-domestique like he had last year, then i dont hold much hope for him.

But what if after the TTs Wiggins is in th lead and Frome is asked to keep him in the lead in the mountains like last year's tour or 2011 Vuelta???

what then....

retalivity

MPFG wrote: »

But what if after the TTs Wiggins is in th lead and Frome is asked to keep him in the lead in the mountains like last year's tour or 2011 Vuelta???

what then....

See: Sebastien Vettel

If Wiggins shows up at the start line of the Tour, Froome will be livid. I don't see him following instructions as well as he did last year.

Inquitus

Despite all his histrionics last year, I don't think Froome could have beaten Wiggins on that parcours, similarly Wiggins can't beat Froome on this years.